An Upgrade for Ethereum’s Casper First Version Has Been Released

An upgrade to the version of the algorithm behind Casper (a deliberate change to the way the network of Ethereum reaches consensus), has been released for broader inspection by client developers and auditors.

The developer behind Casper – Danny Ryan, posted a version 0.1.0 (which is the first release) of the code on Tuesday. He posted the upgrade to GitHub, stating that “this version makes them clearly tag releases that would help external auditors and clients to track changes and contracts.

Ryan’s Comment

FFG (Friendly Finality Gadget is Casper’s first iteration, and others are likely to follow. Ryan replied a post on Reddit stating that: “besides research teams, there are a lot more entities that use the contract now, including client developers, auditors, and many more. He said they want to changelogs and start releasing clearer versions to help everyone stay organized.

This move shows that the protocol change is gathering a lot of momentum, as the software clients of Ethereum can start translating the software into their personal programming languages and testing it. The creator of Ethereum – Vitalik Buterin talked about the Casper upgrade a week ago at a conference. He said: “it is one of the most amazing experience Ethereum has seen in a very short period.”

The Effect of Casper on the Ethereum Network

After the implementation, Casper FFG will modify the software of Ethereum so that the blockchain’s update would require a combination of Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Work (PoW). At the early stages, Casper will maintain the present Proof of Work protocol of Ethereum to handle the heavy lifting, and validating “checkpoints” occasionally with Proof of Stake.

Because the Ethereum network cannot handle too many validating nodes, 1,500 ether will be the starting minimum deposit or $1.1 million – which is the dollar equivalent. They will reuce the minimum stake later on, but the timeline is not yet specified.